The X-Files – My Struggle

By starrymag | January 29, 2016

By: Kelly Kearney

 

 

When TV viewers last saw Mulder and Scully, it was 2002, and they were on the run from the FBI, military and alien super soldiers. Mulder (David Duchovny) was wanted for the murder of a military officer and Scully by his side. The infamous Cigarette Smoking Man was dead and all they had left was each other. Their nine year search for “the truth,” ended when Mulder discovered a planned alien colonization on December 22, 2012.

Flash forward 14 years to 2016, and the fateful end date came and went, with no invasion and no Mulder and Scully (Gillian Anderson) to find the truth. The long awaited premiere starts off with a prologue narrated by Fox Mulder, recounting his life and career through photos. It’s a viewer, “catch-up,” of his experiences, both personally and professionally. We see photos from past cases and personal struggles. Familiar monsters, murderers, extraterrestrials, corrupt government officials and international disasters but most importantly, his partner, Dana Scully. He talks about how and why they met, the dangers they faced and the love they shared that gave birth to the impossible, their son William.

Following the classic X-Files opener, the story picks up in a flashback from 1947. An unknown government agent along with a young Army doctor is traveling to a recent UFO crash in the New Mexico desert. The doctor and agent discover an alien escaping from the wreckage and before the doctor can even approach the injured alien, the agent unexpectedly shoots and kills it.

Cut to 2016, and Dana Scully is scrubbing into surgery at Our Lady of Sorrows hospital in Washington, D.C., the same hospital she worked in during the 2009 X-Files movie. Scully gets interrupted by a colleague that tells her there’s a phone call from an Assistant Director Walter Skinner. Skinner, Mulder and Scully’s boss at The X-Files, is looking for her ex partner, Fox Mulder. Scully immediately contacts Mulder, who’s been living off the grid in Virginia, and tells him AD Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) needs to speak with him. Apparently, Skinner wants Mulder to talk to conservative talk show host Tad O’Malley, a fellow alien conspiracy believer (played by Community’s Joel McHale). O’Malley hosts a popular online show called, “Truth Squad,” which can only be described as Bill O’Reily and meets The Enquirer. Political topics aside, Tad, like Mulder, is a conspiracy theory nut. Mulder agrees to meet and informs Scully she’s tagging along. By the end of the conversation it’s clear that while Scully and Mulder will never truly be apart, they are currently not living together as a couple.

Later on that day in Washington, the pair meets to talk and wait for O’Malley. While both the agents look virtually un-aged, Mulder, the usual wise cracking agent seems to be a more sedated and slightly apathetic where as Scully, ever the skeptic appears to be more subdued but as always, is concerned for her ex. The first meeting between the two seems cautious and awkward but that famous chemistry is burning just below the surface. Scully begrudgingly accepts the fact she will always care about her partner and ex lover “Spooky,” but his obsessions have cost her too much. Their first interaction sets the stage for where the character’s relationship currently stands:

   Scully: “…I just worry about you Mulder.”

   Mulder: “Not to worry Doc, I’m taking good care of myself.”

   Scully: “It’s good for you to get out of that little house every once awhile.”

   Mulder: “it certainly was good for you…”

   Scully: “I’m always happy to see you.”

   Mulder: “and I’m always happy to find a reason.”

Mulder masks his pain over losing Scully with sarcasm, but it’s obvious he still loves her when the two meet Tad O’Malley. Tad and the disgraced FBI agents take, what can only be described as the most awkward limo ride in history, while playing the skeptics to O’Malley’s conspiracy theorist. Tad tells them what a big fan he is of their work and compliments them for practically writing the book on aliens. Throughout his hero worshipping speech, he casually flirts with Scully which immediately makes Mulder skeptical of Tad. Mulder sarcastically accuses Tad of using them to cash in on big ratings. The tension is thick between the two.

 

Mulder: “Conspiracy sells. It pays for bulletproof limousines”

 

Regardless of Mulder’s skepticism, the two winds up tossing around random alien trivia and Tad prove he’s legit. Mulder and an eye rolling, “I can’t believe I’m going to let him suck me into this again,” Scully, decide to hear Tad out and meet an alien abductee, named Sveta (played by The Americans’ Annet Mahendru). Sveta is Tad’s proof of an alien conspiracy to abduct humans and turn them into alien hybrid baby factories. Tad wants to go public with Sveta’s story and wants Mulder to help.

Sveta, recounts her story of abuductions, experiments, impregnations and traumas over the past 20 years. Spoon shaped scars litter her abdomen and she explains that these abductions could be linked to her alien DNA. Mulder, who wants to believe, but can’t bring himself to be taken in by the smarmy and flirty O’Malley, asks Scully to run a blood test on Sveta to determine if she is telling the truth.

While drawing Sveta’s blood, Scully questions her DNA story and Sveta admits she can move objects and read minds. Scully, a scientist, asked for proof. Sveta claimed she had no control of her alien powers. Then in a quiet moment, Sveta asks Scully if she and Mulder were lovers. She relays the intimate details of their life and love as well as the the reasons for their break up. Scully looks hurt and shocked, but realizes Sveta read her mind and lets her know she understands. Throughout the scene, Scully tries to hide a slew of different emotions, from being on the verge of tears to resolve that she can’t hide her feelings for Mulder. Sveta tells Scully that she could never understand what these abductions have done to her and in a split second, Scully silently communicates that she knows more than Sveta could ever imagine.

Scully’s still at the hospital, running blood tests to prove Sveta’s story, while Mulder and Tad take a ride to a secret facility that’s been using alien technology. It’s a typical airport hanger, but what’s inside is anything but typical. An aircraft that runs on, “free energy,” and electromagnetic force created with alien technology that just so happens to go invisible or in, X-Files speak, it runs on,”gravity warp drive.”

While Mulder is out playing UFO’s, Scully’s taking a sample of her own blood to test it against Sveta’s. Tad O’Malley enters and questions Scully about her medical work with genetic disorders in children. The interest in her work quickly leads to him asking about her relationship with Mulder. Teary eyed and shaken, she tells him it was the most intense and frustrating relationship of her life. Scully is curious as to why Tad is there and he cuts right to the chase… he wanted to see her again. Scully is flattered, but experience has taught her to remain wary.

At Sveta’s house, Mulder is questioning her more about the abductions when she admits it wasn’t aliens that abducted her, but men. Sveta lied because she was afraid these government men would kill her. This confession opens Mulder’s eyes to the real truth that he’s been searching for… that he’s been misled for years and the conspiracy isn’t about an alien colonization, but a group of powerful men using alien technology to destroy all of humanity. From the destruction of the Twin towers to FEMA camps and bought and paid for presidencies, he’s convinced this group of men will rule and enslave the human race. Once the fire under Mulder is lit, he’s ready to expose the group’s conspiracy, in front of the world. He calls Scully to give her the news and inadvertently interrupts what appears to be a date between her and Tad.

Mulder rushes to the FBI and tells Skinner about Sveta’s news. Skinner admits the reason he had Mulder meet O’Malley was to spark his interest and convince him to come back to work for The X-Files. He vaguely accepts Skinner’s offer and meets with an informant he worked with 10 years ago. This mystery man, a doctor, worked hard to lead the FBI agent to the truth back. We find out, he is the same doctor from the UFO crash in 1947 and his alien findings fell into the hands of this tyrannical group of men. He leaves Mulder with a cryptic message, that he’s closer to the truth than he ever was and that the famed UFO crash in Roswell, was a smokescreen to hide the truth.

Scully goes back to Sveta’s house and as Mulder explains this new twist to their tale. She’s concerned about his mental stability and obsessive need to find a truth that might be beyond his reach. She seems desperate. Desperate to help Mulder, desperate for Mulder to choose their relationship, she can’t bring herself to follow his destructive search for answers that might not exist. Scully pleads with him to stop these obsessions which are dangerous and unhealthy for a man that’s clinically depressed. After 22 years, Dana Katherine Scully has had enough of this and just wants to have a normal life.

Mulder convinces her to listen while he recounts his elaborate and confusing theory, for her and Tad. Scully is convinced that if Tad, Sveta and Mulder go public with this story its irresponsible and possibly treasonous. As she gets up to leave them to their own devices, she drops the bomb that Sveta’s blood test came back negative for alien DNA. Everyone in the room is shocked and Scully leaves, wanting no part in this plan.

The following day, Tad publically outs the conspiracy and Sveta changes her story. She claims Tad paid her to lie so he could score big in the ratings. Mulder thinks these men threatened Sveta to publicly change her story and out Tad as a fortune hunting liar. Subsequently, Tad’s talk show gets pulled from the internet and the secret compound that housed the alien technology is destroyed.

Scully, fearing Mulder was right all along gets the results of the second test she ran of Sveta’s blood against her own. She seems distracted as she leaves work, only to see Mulder lurking in the shadows of the parking garage. Standing next to Scully’s car, she notices the words, “DON’T GIVE UP,” written in the dust. This saying has been a running theme in Scully’s life. She’s still concerned for Mulder and admits to him she ran a second test on Sveta. He wonders why and she tells him because of her abduction and surprise pregnancy with their son. Then she tells him the one thing fans have debated for years…her blood test matched Sveta’s. They both have alien DNA. This is the clue that explains years of loose ends and Scully’s seemingly immortality. This new fact has direct implications to how she and Mulder were able to conceive when she was already barren. It explains how the infant could move objects with his mind and why he was a target for the conspiracy. The one question still remains, why? Was Scully meant to be a vessel for creating alien human hybrids or does this go deeper? With Mulder’s undying quest for the ultimate truths and Scully’s search for her son, this can only mean one thing: The “Believer” and the “Skeptic,” are headed back to the FBI. The truth is out there or maybe it’s been “in” someone all along.